In modern telescopic hunting sights, there is a clear trend towards models with so-called illuminated reticles. In these configurations, a portion of the reticle, for example, the target point or the target circle, can be illuminated in order to increase the contrast of the reticle or a part of the reticle, according to its use. The energy source for the illuminated reticle is usually a battery located in the support of the illuminated reticle. Configurations found on the market are controlled on the device itself through a combination on/off switch and brightness controller. Such a sighting device is known from DE 199 13 461 A1, wherein the illumination device is in each case embodied as a retrofit kit for a conventional telescopic sight with a non-illuminated reticle.
To use a telescopic sight with an illuminated reticle while hunting, a hand must be taken from the hunting weapon before or after aiming in order to operate the device, i.e., to turn on the illumination and to regulate its brightness. On the one hand, this can cost precious seconds—for example, in pressure hunting situations—or can even be dangerous if the hunter forgets to turn on the device and then holds the armed weapon with one hand in order to turn on the illuminated reticle with the other hand. On the other hand, the devices are often turned on at the beginning of the actual hunt in order to avoid such problems. This consumes unnecessary energy since the illuminated reticle is needed only for the actual shot, and leads to the situation that the battery is often dead at the most important moment.
In view of these disadvantages of the state of the art, the invention is based on the problem of improving the operation of reticle illumination in terms of convenience and reliability in a sighting device with a reticle that can be illuminated electrically.